Posts Tagged: new book

I’m happy to announce the upcoming publication of the Italian edition of PAYING THE PIPER which will be published as OTTO ANNI PRIMA (which translates as EIGHT YEARS AGO). This is my second book with Italian publisher Newton Compton and I hope this book will do as well as first book with them as I’d like them to publish SAVING GRACE next. If you’d like to work on your Italian, this is what the back jacket says:

It’s my birthday today…but I have a gift for you with the release of my short story collection, FAST CRIMES.

I made my professional bones writing short fiction, and fairly short crime fiction at that. When I started out, there were plenty of markets looking for stories only a few pages long. The stories featured in this collection saw publication in Woman’s World, the side of a coffee can and in a Vegas soft porn magazine, just to name a few.

The jacket copy goes like this:

“Crime happens in a moment and so do the stories in the Fast Crimes collection. These short mysteries start in the moment and build to a climax in a snap. Murders are plotted and carried out. Heists are planned and foiled. Investigators hunt and apprehend criminals. And it all happens in a handful of pages. It’s a smash and grab experience…so strap in.”

The book is available on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Barnes & Noble. Links are here.

So if you’re looking to get me a birthday gift, then I’d love it if you picked up a copy. I hope you enjoy the stories. They’re something you can fit in with a cup of coffee.

I’ve got something fast and dirty for you in the guise of a short story collection, FAST CRIMES.

I made my professional bones writing short fiction, and fairly short fiction at that. When I started out, there were plenty of markets looking for stories only a few pages long. The stories featured in this collection saw publication in Woman’s World, the side of a coffee can and in a Vegas soft porn magazine, just to name a few.

The jacket copy goes like this:

“Crime happens in a moment and so do the stories in the Fast Crimes collection. These short mysteries start in the moment and build to a climax in a snap. Murders are plotted and carried out. Heists are planned and foiled. Investigators hunt and apprehend criminals. And it all happens in a handful of pages.

It’s a smash and grab experience…so strap in.”

The book comes out on April 14th…my birthday. You can preorder it here.

My frustrated DJ self emerges yet again for a playlist for my the latest Aidy Westlake book, HALF-INCHED. The playlist reflects the various themes and plotlines from the book series. If you’ve read the books, these songs will make a lot of sense and if you haven’t, it should give you an inkling as to what to expect. Either way, the songs should result in a shake of the head…or a groan.

So here’s what’s on the playlist:

“The Distance.” – Cake

“Fast Car.” – Tracy Chapman

“Jerry Was Racecar Driver” – Primus

“The Road To Hell” – Chris Rea

“Shut Up And Drive” – Rhianna

“Cars” – Gary Newman

“Road To Nowhere” – Talking Heads

“Keep The Car Running” – Arcade Fire

“Everyday Is A Winding Road” – Sheryl Crow

“One Headlight” – The Wallflowers

“Passenger Seat” – Death Cab For Cutie

“Drive” – The Cars

“Passenger Side” – Wilco

“Granddad” – Clive Dunn

If you have any musical suggestions, leave them in the comments and I’ll add them to the playlist. Now just hit play to listen. Enjoy!!

2. Aidy Westlake is named after former Watford Football Club’s had coach Aidy Boothroyd and the late, great writer Donald Westlake.

3. HALF-INCHED was inspired by a British journalist who was discussing high value car thefts in Europe where the vehicles ended up in Moldova. The police in Moldova rarely investigated the thefts as they didn’t occur in their country…but the police would turn a blind eye if the owners chose to steal their property back. As soon as I heard that I knew I had a book! 🙂

4. Readers, Mary-Frances Lascuola & Barb Kreisel, provided the title for the book when I was struggling to come up with one. They won my contest to see who could come up with a better title than me!

If you’ve read the book, I hope these tidbits have given you some additional insight into the story. And if you haven’t read the book, I hope you’ll give it a go.

Merry Christmas, everyone!! Aidy Westlake is your Xmas gift!! Aidy and the boys are back. The full-time racecar driver and part-time investigator returns in HALF-INCHED. Again, Aidy and his crew are up to their necks in trouble. The storyline is as follows.

“Christmas has gone sideways for racecar driver, Aidy Westlake. Aidy’s grandfather, Steve, was just putting the finishing touches on a classic Ford GT40 he was restoring for a British millionaire when it was stolen from his workshop. They quickly establish that the supercar was stolen to order and is in now in Moldova in the hands of the notorious gangster, Lupul. There’s a wrinkle. The police in Moldova don’t care. The theft of a rich man’s toy doesn’t rank high on their priorities. The client’s ultimatum is simple—cover his one million pound loss or recover the car by Christmas Day. With the threat of financial ruin hanging over his grandfather’s head, Aidy’s crew has only one option—steal the car back.”

The International Thriller Writers‘ magazine THE BIG THRILL chose to do profile on me and my latest thriller SAVING GRACE. We discuss what influenced the book and what comes next for my characters Scott Fleetwood and Tom Sheils. You can read the article here.

SAVINGGRACE has been out a few weeks so I thought I would clue you in on some of the background. The driving force behind the book is how the media can be manipulated by internal and external influencers. Don’t worry the book isn’t a fake news rant but I was inspired by real world events over the last decade. MYSTERY FANFARE asked me to write something for him, so please enjoy The Flexible Truth.

Please leave a comment on the blog. And if you’ve not read the book, maybe it’s time to pick it up…